The present invention relates to shipping containers for articles of furniture such as chairs and other similarly shaped objects, and in particular to shipping containers of L-shaped design.
L-shaped containers for shipping chairs and the like, have long been known in the industry. Certain containers, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,111,301 and 4,619,362 are made from a one-piece paperboard blank. Numerous other patents such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,098,401 and 4,398,902 illustrate containers assembled from two pieces of paperboard blank, generally comprising a body portion with bottom flaps, and a separate cover portion. Other references such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,686,834 and 1,188,825 show L-shaped shipping containers formed from three or more separate paperboard components.
Although there have been significant improvements in the design of L-shaped shipping containers, the problems of economy and strength of the container persist. The prior art containers typically require a significant amount of labor in the stages of assembling the container to receive the article of furniture, and sealing the container for shipment. It may be necessary for an assembly line worker to individually cut and/or fold numerous flaps and panels, and then to tape or staple these flaps and/or panels into their appropriate positions. Additionally, it is often necessary to repeat the process with a separate piece of board, such as a cover, and to glue or staple this portion to the body portion. The prior art containers have not been conducive to an automated banding process, and hence, the overall cost of the containers remains high. Additional costs are added during the unpacking stage when the disassembly of the container can require a significant amount of a worker's time removing staples, tape and the like. Many of the prior art containers also use an abnormally large amount of paperboard, either as waste generated by the cutting of the blank, or as extra reinforcing material required due to the lack of rigidity resulting from the particular construction.
Therefore, it is desired to develop a container blank that may be cut from a piece of paperboard while generating little or no waste of board. It is also desired to develop a configuration for that blank that imparts strength at the essential corners of the container so that the possibility of damage to the article of furniture during transit is greatly reduced. Additionally, it is desired to develop a paperboard container that may be assembled, and banded, and eventually unpacked at low cost.